Dr. King's Dream and the American University Today: A Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture

Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of The University of Maryland, Baltimore County

In the 22 years Freeman Hrabowski has been president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), he has led its transformation into a research institution recognized nationally for its culture of innovation and inclusive excellence. UMBC graduates more African Americans who go on to earn Ph.D.s and joint M.D.-Ph.D.s in the STEM fields than any other predominantly white university in the country. By increasing a student's drive to achieve through innovations in both education technology and active learning, and by creating an engaged community of students and research faculty, Hrabowski and his colleagues have established a powerful and influential model for universities everywhere.

Education Reimagined: A Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture

Sal Khan, Founder & Executive Director, Khan Academy

Chances are if you haven't completed an online tutorial from the Khan Academy, you know someone who has. For his work to bring access to free education resources to "anyone, anywhere," the Heinz Family Foundation has awarded Sal Khan the 19th Annual Heinz Award.

While in Pittsburgh, Mr. Khan delivered a lecture at Carnegie Mellon University explaining why he left his lucrative career as hedge fund analyst to devote his full attention to what began as a hobby designing online educational math videos and practice exercises for family friends and cousins. Today, the Khan Academy reaches over 10 million unique students per month. Mr. Khan outlined his growth plans for Khan Academy and how "education reimagined" can become a reality.

About Salman Khan

Sal Khan is the founder of the Khan Academy a nonprofit with the mission of providing free, high-quality education for "anyone, anywhere" in the world. Khan graduated from MIT in 1998 with three degrees: two bachelor of science degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering/computer science; and a master of science degree in electrical engineering. He began his career working in technology and later earned his MBA at Harvard Business School. Khan then became an analyst at a Boston-based hedge fund, which later relocated to Palo Alto, CA, in 2005.

In 2004, as a side project, Khan began tutoring his young cousin in math, communicating by phone and using an interactive notepad. By 2006, Khan was tutoring 15 family friends and cousins. To better scale, he began writing software to give his cousins practice and feedback in mathematics, in addition to posting videos of his hand-scribbled tutorials on YouTube. In 2009, when his exercises and videos were reaching tens of thousands of students per month, he quit his job to commit fully to the Khan Academy.

Today, the Khan Academy website provides self-paced guided learning experience with over 100,000 practice exercises and 5,000 instructional videos covering everything from basic arithmetic to college level science and economics. It's the most-used library of educational lessons on the web, with over 10 million unique students per month, over 300 million lessons delivered, and over a billion exercises completed. More than 200,000 educators around the world are also using Khan Academy to help build student mastery of topics and to free up class time for dynamic project-based learning.

In late 2012, Khan released his book "The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined".

How can science be taught better? Who better to answer that question than a Nobel Laureate.

A member of the newly formed Global Learning Council (GLC), Dr. Carl Weiman presented the inaugural Simon Initiative Lecture titled "Taking a Scientific Approach to Science Education." CMU President Subra Suresh delivered the opening remarks.

Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture Series

The Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture Series is a forum for thought leaders focused on scientific advancement and disruptive innovation in the field of education.

Last November, President Suresh announced the creation of the Simon Initiative at Carnegie Mellon to explore the mystery and potential of human learning. The Simon Initiative harnesses the decades of cross-disciplinary research at the university linking cognitive models of learning with computational tools, all with the goal of improving learning outcomes for students of all ages.